At some point or another every Parisian has an errand to run on the Champs Élysées, as much as they despise its hellish high street hum and tawdry tourist tat. And like every Parisian that likes to claim his or her “coins“, or corners of solace around the city, this Parisienne is claiming a little…

Okay, so that’s not its real name, but they should just call this place what it really is– a countryside paradise in the heart of Paris. A zippy ten minutes from the Eiffel Tower on my mobilette and I had putt-putted my way to Pernety in the 14th arrondissement, a very family-orientated neighbourhood with lots…

Paris lies is the center of Ile-de-France, the most populated region in the country with more residents than Austria, Belgium, Greece, Portugal or Sweden alone. It boasts the world’s fourth-largest and Europe’s wealthiest and largest regional economy. But one small corner of the region paints a very different picture. Just a thirty minute drive north…

On a Sunday ride with my outdated pedal-starter moped, aimlessly putt-putting through the streets of Montmartre, I came across a peculiar building, unlike any of the others I had seen that day. It looked as if it were hundreds of years old … Standing at the intersection of Rue Marcadet and Rue du Mont Cenis, it…

I spent my Saturday afternoon, avoiding the Parisian summer crowds and tiptoeing along the train tracks of the “Little Belt” railroad (La Petite Ceinture), a surviving relic of a bygone era, closed since 1934; open for pleasant summer strolls if you look hard enough for a way in … Built in 1862, the Petite Ceinture…

Promise you won’t tell anyone…! 1. L’Etage de Pastavino – Saint Germain’s best-kept secret It just looks like an ordinary Italian deli (épicerie in French) on a bustling market street in Saint Germain … but it’s hiding a secret in a dark corner at the back. Indicated only by two blackboards nearly tucked out of…

Between the 19th and 20th century, wine barrels would travel via canal boat from the regions of Burgundy all the way to Paris which were then traded at the riverside cellars of Bercy, destined to grace the tables of thirsty Parisians. Today, there is one little houseboat, known as ‘La Cave Vagabonde‘, still making the…

You may recall we once discovered Kowloon City, the Hong Kong ‘historical accident’, an urban enclave so densely populated by squatters that even the law lost its grip on the seven-acre plot crammed with 300 interconnected towers. It turns out we had one just like it right here in Paris. And unlike Kowloon, which was…

I pass the Pont Louis Philippe most days, whizzing by on a scooter along the banks of the Seine. At the foot of the last arch on the right bank, there is a door that has been mystifying me for a while now, because it appears that someone lives there… On the most recent occasion…

This breathtaking pool of glistening turquoise water under creamy ecclesiastical stone vaulting is the underground water reservoir tank of Mountsouris, a hidden treasure in the south of the Paris. Sitting undisturbed beneath the feet of unknowing Parisians, the original entrance is unfortunately closed to the public and special visitation days have been cancelled in recent…